Pacifica Base

From Discovery Wiki
Pacifica Base
Owner
Unioners
Location
C/D-6/5, Bering

CLASS: Riss

GRAVITY: Partial

DOCKING: Yes

AMENITIES: Limited

CREW: 360

The history of the Unioners is tied to Alster. Conditions were appalling in the yards, worker safety being a tertiary concern of the owners. Coupled with the excessively long shifts, worker morale gradually deteriorated until a major accident killed several hundred in 512 AS. Three months later, the Alster Union was formed. Because of workers' highly specialized skills, the management had no choice but to capitulate to their demands. During the next century the Union strengthened and expanded to the dockworkers on the Altona Station. By the 80-Years War, the Union demanded increasingly high wages and progressively fewer annual hours for its members. When the war ended, demand for ships plummeted.

The bloated headcount of Alster was now a sore point as management desperately tried to restore profitability. After almost 200 years of acceding to union demands, Republican fired tens of thousands and pried major concessions from the remaining workers. Centuries of gains were lost in a matter of days. As unemployment rocketed towards 30%% in Hamburg, a radicalized version of the Union emerged. Freeport 2 in Bering proved alluring to the nascent Unioner movement -- following the Popular Revolution of 700 AS, the station’s population exploded. In 720 AS the Zoners laid down the ultimatum: Take your criminal activities somewhere else. As a result, the Unioners carved Pacifica Base out of an asteroid in the Tanner Belt.

Today, the Unioners scavenge Bering for war salvage to feed Pacifica’s drydocks, with spare construction capacity often sold to the Liberty and Rheinland underworld. During the Rheinland Civil War, the Unioners fought for the Imperial cause, however they quickly became disillusioned when Republican rebranded to Imperial Shipping and used its political influence to marginalize them, stymying promised reforms. As a result the Unioners continued to engage in piracy and smuggling despite an armistice established by the Holstein Accords. By 829 AS the Unioners had been outlawed again, with strikes on Alster Shipyard and Altona resuming in earnest. Smuggling continues to be a lucrative business for the Unioners, with Corsair Artifacts, Corse Nox and stolen Hessian Diamonds all regularly passing through Pacifica’s bays.

Bribes & Missions Offered

Bribes
Missions


Commodities

Imports
Commodity Price
Robotics 36$
Ablative Armor Plating 46$
Hessian Tears 132$
Criminals 589$
Liberty Ale 39$
Molybdenum 154$
Rheinbier 39$
Light Arms 55$
Solar Panels 48$
Vodka 57$
Prisoners 195$
Black Market Pharmaceuticals 27$
Counterfeit Computerware 49$
Boron 28$
Beryllium 58$
Cobalt 41$
Silver 139$
Scrap Metal 13$
Hydrocarbons 40$
Oxygen 15$
Water 16$
Diamonds 143$
Food Rations 60$
Basic Alloy 19$
Super Alloy 52$
High-Temperature Alloy 40$
Superconductors 24$
Pharmaceuticals 36$
Polymers 46$
Consumer Goods 17$
Black Market Munitions 42$
Black Market Augments 38$
Iridium 190$
Neon 26$
Synth Paste 26$
Helium 54$
Industrial Materials 28$
Munitions 54$
Xenobiotic Filters 22$
Xeno Relics 243$
Exports
Commodity Price
Deployable Mining Container 50,000$
Propaganda 100$
Toxic Waste 26$
Crew 362$
MOX 38$
Hull Panels 52$
Engine Components 58$


Ships sold


Ship Class Price
Rheinland Blackmarket Frigate Frigate 1,337,466$
Unioner Gunboat Gunboat 1,210,006$
Rheinland Pirate Cruiser Cruiser 2,507,900$


News

[832 AS] A Different Kind of Heat

HOUSTON -- 832 AS -- A horrifyingly large scale firefight broke out in one of Houston's major city centers - Marlton, hundreds upon hundreds of arrests have been made and dozens of brave officers lost their lives in the vicious attack. The attack itself seems to have specifically targeted the city's dedicated police station, resulting in significant amounts of private property damage. The attack appears to have been highly coordinated, reliant on insider information, and carried out by contractors or former professionals, with one LPI spokesperson going so far as to say that this must have been a bought and paid for terrorist attack. Many of the perpetrators of the attack were killed by officers on scene, or by the Naval Emergency Response Team that responded to scattered reports of small arms fire. The LPI has currently released no statement about the progress of the investigation.

[832 AS] Kusari's Plight

KAGOSHIMA -- 832 AS -- Synth Foods audacity knows no bounds. They use a time of tragedy as an opportunity to bloat their already bloated purses with more ill-gotten wealth. We cannot allow this. There can be no room for Synth in Kusari. They already control too great a share of the market and with Kyushu's food production on a downward spiral after the storm, our intervention is necessary now more than ever. We must commit ourselves fully to our mission for the greater interests of Kusari unless we wish to live under the jackboot of Liberty and its vile corporate interests!

[832 AS] Counting Doses

ROCHESTER -- 832 AS -- The catastrophic crash of the Cardamine market has been tough for all the associates involved in the chain of its distribution, and the substantial drop-off in the quantity of it available for use and resale has caused a new problem in this series of bad episodes. The Rogues and Hackers, former partners in feeding the needs of the underworld are now at each other's throats, unable to meet demands for the drug both by their own and by customers, it seems as if stealing it from each other at gunpoint is the new business model.

[831 AS] Jump Hole Upheaval Causes Chaos

HEISENBERG -- 831 AS -- Jump holes across Sirius have become increasingly volatile and chaotic over the last year, with Professor Sophia Nagel from the Heisenberg Research Station linking the unusual phenomena to the Pulse. The Pulse was an unprecedented blast of hyperspace energy that was detected immediately prior to last year's jump gate Blackout.

Professor Nagel and her team are certain the Pulse originated from outside Sirius, but are otherwise no closer to identifying its source or mitigating a future Blackout event. "Following the Blackout, we began to see immediate signs of jump hole destabilization in multiple different regions, with many ultimately falling out of phase alignment altogether", she commented. The dramatic upending of Sirius' jump hole network has already prompted many groups to abandon stations and withdraw from systems that appear to risk being cut off.

While months-long trips between the stars are possible thanks to the Liberty Engine and many centuries of innovation, few ships are designed or provisioned to make such arduous journeys. Those who were displaced by Sirius' redrawn map hope that system connections will return, while adventurers and explorers rush to discover new routes.

[830 AS] Troubles in Erie's Paradise

ERIE -- 830 AS -- It was the early hours of the morning when a missile was launched from Erie's surface; A missile that struck its target of an LSF satellite in orbit of Erie. The attack was claimed to have originated by militant Zoners seeking to separate themselves from Libertonian governance, and proved to be the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

For some time, it had been alleged that Insurgent and Xeno-backed cells had been stirring trouble on Erie, inciting violence in the population and seeking to turn the planet into a second Veracruz. Never, however, had such open acts of terror been visited upon the governing Libertonian forces.

The response was quick and decisive. In coordination with the LSF, Vice Admiral Hamish aboard the Battleship Alma lead a Liberty Navy task force directly into the system in Operation Pesticide, escorted primarily by Siege Cruisers, Gunboats and fightercraft, with many of the Navy's capital warships tied in the Vespucci campaign or ever watchful at Liberty's borders. They were met by Zoner Q-ships based from Bethlehem, with many coming from as far as Galileo or even the Sigmas, accompanied by a motley assortment of freelancers and other anarchist elements. Leading the Zoner line was a Aquilon-class carrier, the Pinnacle.

While the Pinnacle came under heavy bombardment from the Alma and her task force, supplies quickly gathered onto Zoner transports from Erie attempted to run the Navy blockade. While some transports were lost to Navy bombers, others yet escaped to parts as of yet unknown. This 'victory', however, came at a heavy price. The Pinnacle was lost with most of her hands still on board and the rest captured, while the Liberty Marines landed virtually unopposed, quickly securing population centers for both the safety of Libertonian assets and the civilians on Erie itself. The Alma is settled now into the low orbit of Erie, a constant reminder to those below that they are under the protection of the Liberty Navy. A comfort to some, a dire warning to many more.

[829 AS] Take What You Can, When You Can

PACIFICA -- 829 -- It was inevitable, but Rheinland has outlawed the movement once more. This comes as no real surprise -- while they initially paid us off to keep Bering and Hudson under control, Imperial bribes alone don't cover the bills. There's simply more money on the other side of the law. Now we've no reason to play nice and Imperial Shipping is back on the target list. Despite grand promises to the unions during the war, they failed to follow through on any of those commitments. Conditions on Alster are as bad as they've ever been. It seems our support during the war wasn't worth much respect in the Reichstag when corporate bribes are involved.

[826 AS] Victory turns to ash at Vierlande

PACIFICA -- 826 -- This should have been a day of momentous celebration, marking the occupation of the despised Vierlande Prison. Sadly, we were betrayed. Our supposed comrades in the Red Hessians and Coalition turned on us in the moment of victory. A full accounting of those lost is still being gathered, but initial reports confirm that Wedel Station has been destroyed, along with the Battleship Undine. Krefeld reports a massacre aboard, perpetrated by pre-positioned Hessian agents. The scale of this treachery is beyond belief, and a grievous wound that can never be forgiven.

[824 AS] Kielfeld Losses Continue

PACIFICA -- 824 -- Unioner smugglers are advised to steer clear of the Kielfeld - if you need to get to Barrow, route through Bering. Over the last six months, losses in the area have jumped over 300%, mainly hitting our Artifact and Diamond freighters. Crimson Squadron were sent in to investigate, with only Crimson leader Lea Nacht surviving. She says, “there’s a new breed of Bounty Hunter out there, likely ex-Unioners that know our routes.” Nacht successfully retreated deep into the field after her wing was ambushed, field repairing her Eagle’s engines and comms over the next 5 days before she could limp home. While we mourn the loss of the veteran Crimsons, Nacht’s tenacity allows their legacy to live on.


Rumors

Unioners
  • Running Alien Artifacts from the Sigmas is much more dangerous these days. We've been doing this route for a few years now, but since the betrayal at Vierlande, the Bundschuh and Hessians will both gun for our smugglers on sight. Can't go through Hamburg's Kielfeld either, there's something bad in there.


  • Our old boss Imperial Shipping became Republican Shipping after the Popular Revolt. It was a dark time for the common laborer, and within months we lost all the rights we had been working to create for the past several decades. Republican Shipping really stuck it to the worker, using the weak economic situation to strong-arm the faltering union. In the end, it did them little good. They lost their most skilled workers, and with them, many construction contracts went abroad, to Kusari.


  • In 512 AS an explosion in the Alster Shipyards killed hundreds of workers. They formed a union and walked out on the Imperial Shipping executives. It was then that Imperial Shipping realized how valuable its workers were. Production ground to a stop, and they started losing millions of credits for each day production was halted. They tried to get the government to step in and declare martial law, but the conditions were so appalling that the government didn't step in. All Imperial could do was concede to our demands.


  • When the 80-Years War came to an end the Union joined the Popular Revolt to overthrow the Imperial government. There were no more government contracts, and unemployment skyrocketed. The reformed Republican Shipping used this as an excuse to fire every known Unioner and replace them with workers brought in from New Berlin, breaking every agreement they ever made with us. The government didn't want to step in, despite us helping them in the Popular Revolution, so we took matters into our own hands. It was the right thing to do. It still is.


  • The Alster Shipyards were home to the Unioner movement when we were still a legitimate, political entity. Alster was established in 412 AS by Imperial Shipping to supply the Rheinland Empire with transport freighters, lifters, and repair ships. Imperial Shipping became known as Republican Shipping after the 80-Year War, and Imperial Shipping again during the Civil War. Funny how things repeat.


  • The Unioners are a political organization fighting like many others throughout Sirius for the fair treatment of the working classes. For that we are branded criminals. And when you treat someone like a criminal, he eventually starts to think and act that way. So yea, we're pirates and smugglers now. That is what Rheinland, and Republican in particular, has made us into.


  • The Union that formed after the Alster Tragedy of 512 gained well-deserved benefits for the shipwrights and welders who built the transports that shipped goods throughout Sirius. In the decades that followed, the union grew stronger. When the 80-Years War broke out, we were sitting pretty on a mountain of government subsidies and contracts. The government broke those contracts and attempted to basically impose indentured servitude on us. We would have none of that.


  • With our old union destroyed after the Popular Revolt, we reformed and called ourselves the Unioners. We were formed to make Republican Shipping pay for the wrongs it had committed against its workers. To this day we exact our vengeance, and we'll not stop until Republican recognizes the Union and restores the worker rights that our fathers and grandfathers fought so hard for.


  • This base is mainly used as a smuggling waypoint and small production facility for our weapons. We mostly control this system now - only the Xenos oppose us, and they are no match for us. The Liberty Navy doesn't go far from the only working Jump Gate left in this system, and the Rheinland Military has completely withdrawn. In other words, we're as safe here as we'll ever be.


  • We run Artifact shipments direct from the Corsair base in Simga-15. We don't need Junkers as middle-men any more. Not an easy run through Frankfurt and New Berlin, but decent profit. We sell some Artifacts locally to the Junkers, but most to the Rogues in Hudson.


  • We used to smuggle Hessian Tears to the Rogues, but that all came crashing down when the Hessians stabbed us in the back in '26. These days, the only time we can ship Diamonds out is when we can hit Hessian smugglers and steal theirs, or sneak a patrol into Dresden and grab them from the source.


NOTE: Page generated on the 07/06/2024 at 15:55:47 UTC